You’ll be free

Karma Yoga

Chapter 3, Verse 40

 

indriyāṇi mano buddhiḥ 

asyādhiṣṭhānam-ucyate 

etair-vimohayaty-eṣa 

jñānam-āvṛtya dehinam

 

The senses, mind and intellect are the seats of desires. Desires veil knowledge and bewilder the embodied soul.

 

The seats of the desires are the senses, the mind and the intellect. All these desires which emerge from the senses, the mind and the intellect, veil knowledge and this “bewilders the embodied soul.” It creates an illusion which veils the truth. 

Krishna says, “If the mind, the intellect and the senses are not under control, they take over.” It’s like when you say, ‘swaha’ and you fuel the fire of the yagna with your desire. Then you can’t control it, and you sit and cry. Krishna says, “It is difficult, but you have to control this!” The one who is on the spiritual path, the spiritual seeker, the bhakta, should not waste time in entertaining these desires. One should be aware of desire at the beginning itself and remove it. Don’t feed it! Because if you let it grow inside, if you entertain it, you will ruin yourself. You will lose the power of thinking and you will not have the knowledge of the Self. It will be very difficult for you to sit in sadhana! It will be very difficult for you to do your japa! It will be very difficult for you to continue on your spiritual path. But if, at the beginning itself, you don’t entertain this intention, you remove it. You’ll be free!

Bhagavad Gita